Rod-packing.



PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905.

YUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIN J. GARLOCK, OF PALMYRA, NEW YORK. ASSIGNOR T() THE GAR- LOCKPACKING COB'IPANY, OF PALMYRA, NEW' YORK.

ROD-PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 190,5.

Application lled May 20, 1905. Serial No. 261,320.

Be it known that l, `OLrN J. (lAnLoo/K, of Palmyra, in the county ofVayne and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Rod-Packing, which improvement is fully set forth in the following'specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

My invention is an improved packing` for piston-rods, intended moreespecially for long'itudinally-moving' rods or shafts of great lengthhaving` long travels or reciprocatory strokes through the packing'boxes.

Piston and pump rods of short length, such as employed with the ordinarysteam-engine or water-pump, move as a rule truly and accurately throughthe smiling-boxes as the pistons and plungers reciprocate, and withthese rods any ordinary rod-packing will usually serve the purposeintended; but in case of very long' rods or shafts-Hlike, for instance,the vertical lifting-pistons sometimes used under elevator-cars in highbuildings-having strokes or movements in vertical directions throughlong' distances a different and special kind of packing isnecessaryf-that is to say, a packing' that is especially yielding' andelastic. ln these cases the side pressure of the rod against the body ofpacking' incident to the wabbling' of the car while in motion and othercauses is uneven and changeable` particularly when the car is low ornear the upper end of the cylinder. Furthermore, the side swaying or thejerking of the car in lateral directions, resulting from the moving inand out of the passengers, tends to cause the rod or shaft to beatabruptly one way and another against the packing', these movements ofthe car temporarily destroying' the concentricity of the rod and thesmiling-box and correspondingly compressing the body of packing at oneside and another. lVhatever the direction or the extent of thesesidewise motions of the rod the packing' must be of a kind or nature toreadily and quickly change form and adjust itself to the Varying'positions of the rod and keep the space in the stuffing-box around therod filled or occupied to hold back the water under pressure acting' todrive the piston and the car upward. The pistons in theseelevator-cylinders are usually simply straight rods or shafts of uniformdiameters and without enlarged parts or piston-heads, as in case of theordinary pump or steam-engine.

The piston is purposely and necessarily made of the cylinder and thestuffing-box, leaving' a clear space of considerable extent all roundthe piston to admit of a due amount of unavoidable side sway ortemporary leaning' of the piston, as stated, the water under pressurefilling' the space up to and against the body of packing' in thestuffing-box. To properly pack such pistons and hold the water back allaround, the packing' must be not only pliable and very elastic audresilient, but it must also be of such nature as to maintain itselasticity and resilience during reasonable use and not soon become setor slow in action. Packing' for this purpose needs to have a lirm andhard exterior' portion to successfully withstand the wear and abrasionresulting' from the rubbing' of the piston and an inside orbacking' forthe hard outer part that both Soft and yielding' and highly elastic.Also as the hard exterior has necessarily few and small interstitialspaces or pores it can absorb and hold but little oil or lubricant, andthe soft core or backing' needs to be such as to hold a liberal quantityof oil and gradually communicate it to the hard outer covering'. Toproduce a body of packing' of this nature and having these requirementshas been the object of my present invention, the packing' herein shownand described being' the result of trial and experiment. This improvedpacking' is primarily made in rope or cable form, having an elasticcenter strand or core of prepared flax, with a sheet of asbestos 'or ofcloth or liber embedded in india-rubber wound in involute or spiral formaround the l'lax core, the whole being' united in a single body by meansof some adhesive substance, as a thin cement.

The invention is hereinafter fully described, and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims, reference being' had to theaccompanying' drawings, forming a part of this specilication.

Figure l shows in side elevation a portion of the packing'. F ig'. 2shows a ring of rodpacking' made from the rope or cable shown in Fig. l.Fig. 3 is an edge View of the ring' shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows aspiral of packing' formed from the rope shown in Fig'. l. Fig'. is acx'osssection of the rope or cable, taken as on the dotted line 5 5 inFig. 1. Fig'. 6, drawn to an enlarged scale, shows a horizontalcross-section of a smiling-box and IOO ' a stuiingbox aroundthe rod.

associated rod, taken as on the dotted line 6 6 in Fig. 7, showing byfull and by dotted lines eccentric positions of the rod in thestufiingbox. Fig. 7, drawn to a reduced scale, is a side elevation ofparts at the upper end of the cylinder andthe piston, parts being brokenaway and in axial section. Fig. 8 is a crosssection of a modified form.

Referring to the drawings, A is a portion of a rope or cable of packingmade primarily out of which to subsequently form rings B,

Figs. 2 and 3, or spirals C, Figs. 4, 5, and

6, of packing of common form for filling rIhis rope or cable A is formedwith a center or axial strand or core (t, Figs. 4 and 5, of uniformdiameter, it being of a material that is soft and pliable and elastic ina high degree and one of a nature to absorb and hold oil, preferablyprepared fiax or hemp. Upon the core (L is rolled or wound in spiral orinvolute form a sheet of a firmer and harder material, as asbestos orcotton duck or other firm cloth, having its threads filled in andcovered with india-rubber, thecore and the wrapper being cementedtogether in a single mass or body. Ihis outer covering' or wrapper forthe core is yielding and elastic and being harder and more firm than thefiax core is adapted to withstand the wear and abrasion resulting fromlthe action of the reciprocating rod. The rope or cable' thus made up ispliable and highly elastic, especially so on account of the nature andaction of the flax core, and when squeezed or compressed laterally willquickly resume its normal form when the pressure is removed, and a bodyof packing made from the rope, either in single rings or spiral form,and placed in a stufng-box around the rod will quickly change form andadjust itself to the positions of the rod resulting from lateralmotions, and so keep the annular space around the rod closely filled andpacked to the exclusion of the water beneath it, and this yielding andelastic character of the packing renders it particularly serviceable inpacking rods that are out of line or not coaxial with the stufHng-boxes,as it will readily conform to such imperfectly-positioned rods and fillthe space all round. The absorbent core a, being loaded or saturatedwith oil, gradually yields it to the less porous covering b, keeping thelatter supplied to reduce the friction of the sliding rod or piston, andso prolong the life and usefulness of the parts in contact.

Fig. 7 shows a stuffing-box G filled with packing C in spiral formaround the piston D, E being a portion of the long vertical cyl- 'vinderand F a portion of the elevator-car.

mounted upon the upper end of the piston. The cylinder and thestuffing-box are formed to have annular spaces c c of considerablelateral extent around the piston to allow for the latter an unavoidableamount of side swaying due to the rocking or wabbling of the car.

Fig. 6 shows by full and by dotted lines various eccentric positionsliable to be assumed by the rod in the stufng-box, in all of whichpositions of the rod it is necessary to have it closely surrounded andpressed by the yielding and elastic packing.

In some cases in forming the rope of packing I give it the form andstructure of crosssection shown in Fig, 8, it being approximatelysquare, with the soft core CZ large in proportion to the wrapper e andconstituting the main part of the body. Rings or spirals made of thisstyle of packing better answer the purpose of packing rods or pistonsthat are very much out of line or lacking in coaxiality, as such bodiesof packing are more pliable and compressible from the preponderance ofthe softer substance forming the core.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A packing for pistons, consisting of a rope having a soft elasticcore, as of flax, and a wrapping of harder uniformly elastic nonmetallicmaterial as fiber embedded in indiarubber, the core and the wrapperbeing cemented together to form a single body.

Q. A packing for pistons, consisting of a rope having an elasticabsorbent core, as of fiax, and a Wrapping of harder uniformly elasticnon-metallic material, as asbestos, the core and the wrapper beingcemented together to form a single body, said wrapper being a sheetwound continuously around the iiax core in involute form.

3. A packing for rods, consisting of a rope having a center strand ofpliable elastic material, as fiax, and an envelop for the center strandconsisting' of a sheet of firm non-,metallic and uniformly elasticmaterial harder than the material of the center strand.

4. Rings of packing' made from a rope having a center strand or coremadeof flax and wound with an envelop of rubber and nonmetallic fiber,and harder than the flax strand.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 15th day of Way,1905, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

oLiN J. eARLooii.

WITitnesses:

JOI-1N L. TRAVERS, HARRY G. CHAPMAN.

IOO

